Per Bruce and (of course) Seth, Gilette has announced they will unveil a 5-blade razor in early 2006.

Somebody please remind me, what is the benefit of multiple blades? Multiple opportunities to cut myself? Originally, I believe they touted that you could get a smooth shave with one stroke of the razor. So, instead of shaving over the same area two or three times, now you just go over it once. Good idea.

Did I ever shave the same area five times? No. Not unless I want razor burn so bad that my neck resembles the topography of Mars. So, what is the purpose? Marketing. One-upmanship. OK, one-upmanship marketing.

Seems like the megahertz “myth” redux. Wintel PCs were blowing away Apple in megahertz speed ratings. In a race to have the fastest PC, manufacturers eventually commodotized the market. After one gigahertz (1,000 mhz), very few people could find reasons to buy faster computers. Soon, manufacturers were looking for another way to differentiate their product. Now speed is almost a non-factor. Any new PC is usually fast enough. It’s the peripherals (monitor, mp3 player, printers, cameras) that steer purchases now.

So, has Gillette (and the razor market) “jumped the shark?” I think so. Yet, razors don’t typically use peripherals so I’ll be interested to see how they differentiate themselves after this.